Performance at ACT Theatre tonight launches Seattle Dance Project

Published 10:00 pm, Thursday, January 24, 2008

Julie Tobiason was one of Pacific Northwest Ballet's most endearing dancers -- lithe and charming and fresh. She joined the company in 1986, ultimately becoming principal dancer before retiring in 2002.

Her newest venture comes to fruition Friday night at ACT Theatre with the launch of the Seattle Dance Project, a company of eight who have performed with major dance companies, including PNB, New York City Ballet and Mark Morris Dance Group. Timothy Lynch, a former member of PNB, is one of them; he also is 0a co-founder.

"This all started when I was still dancing with PNB," Tobiason said, "When you are working in a group for so long, you come up with ideas in a fun way but have little time to develop them. To be successful in ballet, you have to be submerged in it, but I was always interested in what was out there. After I left PNB I did some dancing with Maureen Whiting (a local choreographer), Donald Byrd (artistic director of Spectrum Dance Theater) and in some outside projects." She also became a member of the faculty at the PNB School, as did Lynch.

During this hiatus Tobiason had time to think about starting a dance company. She wanted to use local dancers who had left their respective companies. "When you are so used to a big, established world, there is excitement about taking this kind of risk," she said.

The concept slowly took shape for Tobiason and Lynch. It caught the interest of Tobiason's former colleagues at PNB -- in particular Alexandra Dickson, Melanie Skinner, Oleg Gorboulev and Linnette Hitchin, who are all members of the new company as well as local teachers.

Rehearsals began in June. Some were open -- in part to begin a donor base. It worked. The city of Seattle also contributed.

Tobiason wanted something more than a show in someone's basement, with a few friends invited. "We wanted to offer something to the dance community."

Thus, ACT, which will be a novelty for most of the company, accustomed to a proscenium stage instead of the theater's thrust stage. "It is warm and inviting, very intimate, which works with the pieces we are doing. We didn't want to be far away from the audience."